I need all the help I can get!
My 9 week old son has never been a great sleeper. He always has struggled with getting past the 45 minute light sleep stage of his cycle without help - same goes for naps and nights. The only time he has slept though is when he has been unbelievably over tired ... and then of course we were up every 45 minutes wondering what was wrong with him!
I have traditionally picked him up at the brief wakings (usually when the grunting starts) day or night, because I know that if I don't, he'll escape his swaddle and then the fully blown 'I'm awake and upset' crying will begin. The escape happens no matter how tightly we swaddle and the Miracle Blanket was a disaster (he didn't like his arms so tight at his sides).
The last few nights I have been shushing and patting him back to sleep at each 45 minute interval, with the exception of a few night feedings (breast fed) every 3 hours or so. It only took 10 minutes or so to pat him back to sleep with the exception of one wakening when he did a poo and needed a change. When he has his wakenings, he tends to struggle against the swaddle and strain and grunt like he needs to go to the toilet. I burp him for 20 minutes post-feed and nothing ever comes out so I don't think it's gas.
During the day, he is only awake for 1 hour max until he starts showing tired signs and then goes down for a nap - only to wake 45 minutes later. Will go back to sleep SOMETIMES with the patting, but not always.
I'm sure this isn't that clear, but the gist of it is that I am absolutely exhausted and we don't seem to be getting anywhere in terms of longer quality sleeps. How long until he learns to transition through the cycle himself, without my getting up to pat him back? What else should I be doing? I need some hope.
Jilly
Noah (9 weeks)
